The Yard Dogs band played well Friday, but it is no cliché to say the true star of the 21st annual Employees’ Lunch in the Park was the Madera county and city government staff. The Behavioral Health Services agency won the coveted Spirit Stick with a double song routine, the city earned a rare “perpetual” trophy for being “best dressed,” and other employees won raffle prizes and costume honors.

The traditional midday appreciation meal for public servants serves as a long-standing appetizer for the Old Timers Day festivities today at the same venue, the Courthouse Park, as well as through downtown on Yosemite Avenue.

“In 1993, which was the centennial of the founding of the county of Madera, the historical committee offered a hot dog lunch for employees. It grew from then and became a regular thing... That’s how it got started,” explained Bob Winslow, board member of the Madera County Historical Society.

No hot dogs were in sight this year as Madera Community Hospital catered a full chicken meal for a crowd of more than 530, which Cargill described as “a tremendous turnout.” ...